Monday, 24 September 2012

Street Smart Cyclist (commonly abbreviated to SSC) are a five-piece emo band from Lehigh Valley/Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They were active from 2006-2008 and did a few reunion shows at the end of 2010. Members went on to form Snowing, another essential emo-revival (or whatever you want to call it) band. I think some of them might have been played in another awesome band called Boyfriends. They've all played in a bunch of other bands as well, though I'm unsure of which ones specifically.

Unfortunately, they put out very little in their time. The plus side to that is it's all kick-ass, taking influence from all the greats: Cap'n Jazz, Boy's Life, Braid, you know the like. They put out a demo/EP 7", an acoustic EP, and a final EP-thing consisting of two songs they recorded before breaking up. Here you go:

Since their discography is so small, here's a link to all of it. It's just every album, individual artwork and track listing and all, in one convenient download, so it's no different than the ones above. Just in case you were going to download all three, it'll make your life easier. Or something. Yeah. You're welcome.

Adventures are a five-piece emo/indie/punk band from Pittsburgh, Pennyslvania. They formed early this year, and have just recently become real active (they just put a 7" out and are touring and such). Their line-up consists of three members from Code Orange Kids as well as Lilith (formerly Wifebeater, a really cool acoustic folk-y project. The link is to their bandcamp, check them out too if you havent't already). They've all done various other projects together before, but none that I can specifically note. You know what, here's a line-up rundown:

Reba Meyers - Guitar, Vocals (also in COK and Lilith, same instruments)
Jami Morgan - Drums (also in COK, though he sings as well)
Joe Goldman - Bass, Vocals (just bass in COK, both in Lilith)
Kimi Hanauer - Keyboard (vocals in Lilith as of this year, I think. She also the artwork for all three bands)
Dom - Guitar (don't know his last name or any other bands, so he gets to be just Dom - Guitar)

I'm not trying to put more emphasis on the people in the band than the band itself, it's just that that seems to be a point of interest with them. Whatever, anyways, they certainly don't sound anything like any of the other bands mentioned, with the exception of the beginning of "Like Seed" which I think is missing an "Ugh!", and at during few moments when Reba's voice is at its most guttural. But still, very different sounds. They're more comparable to bands such as Texas Is The Reason or Knapsack, your classic 90's emo bands. A couple more contemporary bands too, such as My Heart To Joy, or Tigers Jaw, perhaps. They put out a 4-song 7" on No Sleep Records, check it out. It's probably one of my favourite EP's of the year.

Monday, 10 September 2012

Tigers Jaw are a five-piece pop punk/emo/indie rock band from Scranton, Pennyslvania formed in 2005. They are easily one of my favourite bands around now, and I'm pretty sure they're yours too (or will be after you click a link down below).

Tigers Jaw have really developed a sound that is their own. They take the best of what bands such as The Promise Ring, The Smiths, Superchunk, Against Me!, Descendents, Pavement, and Dinosaur Jr. were doing and mix them all together to create this beautiful concotion of awesome. What's even better than that is that the end result doesn't sound like a hybrid of those bands, it sounds like, well, Tigers Jaw. Irresistably catchy melodies, gorgeous harmonies, beautiful lyrics, melodic guitar leads, fuzz-laden chords complimented by some keyboard playing, and a tightly interlocked rhythm section with the bass and drums, perfectly balancing complexity with simplicity. They can do sad songs, pop songs, slow songs, fast songs, lazy songs, energetic songs, and you get the point. And I almost forgot the best part: the songwriting. They just know how to write a damn good song.

Anyway, instead of spouting shit, here's what I think is their entire discography to date. Since I can't find a whole lot of information on their history, I'm a little unsure of the earliest stuff here (prior to Belongs To The Dead). Everyting after that is fairly well-documented, and I'm pretty sure I have everything released after it. It's just the things before it. It's definitely them, though a very early incarnation. They might have been using a different name at the time, Buona Pizza (like the song), an I don't know when they changed it to Tigers Jaw. The Demo was ripped off of Myspace I believe (I didn't do it myself), Buona Pizza I know nothing about, and I'm On Your Side is a full-length, though most of the song titles are missing, with the exception of ones that appear on other releases. These three particular releases were all found in one download, which I cannot find again. So sorry for the lack of information on them. Everything else we all know and love.

The "Buona Pizza" release was a solo projects of Adam's from 2006. The two-track "Demo" was for "I'm On Your Side", which was supposed to be their Prison Jazz debut full-length in 2007, though it was scrapped and never properly released. Major thanks to Anonymous for providing this information.

A Stubborn Reminder...

Please remember, not everything on here is supposed to be free. Enjoy to your heart's content, but if you can, please try and support these bands by purchasing records, going to shows, buying merch, anything if at all possible. Most of them could really use (and deserve) it.